HANNER EDUCATIONAL ENTERPRISES, LLC
93 ARCADIA AVENUE, LAKESIDE PARK, KENTUCKY 41017
TELEPHONE: (859) 802-1303
Tim Hanner, President
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Hanner’s Heroes – Student Empowerment
Like many other school district across the country, The Kenton County School District worked to implement researched-based initiatives to address the achievement/learning gap in our schools. The Board established three main areas of focus to guide the work in the schools: all students at or above grade level in literacy and numeracy at each transition point; all students receive quality instruction in each classroom each day; all students involved in at least one meaningful activity beyond the classroom. The result of this focus resulted in data driven decisions to employ systems such as Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), Read 180 and System 44 via our Response to Intervention program that made an impact in all of our schools. Teachers working together on a daily basis within Professional Learning Communities in order to share instructional practices and analyze student work became the norm in the district.
Data-driven decisions became the norm among our students as well. One positive example of how we used data to develop turnaround strategies was witnessed via our work with fifteen high school students from our four high schools. The students worked with me to examine data detailing the correlation between literacy and the number of inmates at detention centers. The result of the examination of this data was to createa student-led, student-empowered program they entitled Hanner’s Heroes. The main purpose of this program was to provide high school students the opportunity to volunteer to work one-to-one with primary-age students in our eleven elementary schools on a weekly basis to either improve the literacy skills of students who are below grade level as One-to-One Literacy Coaches; or to mentor a student who has been identified as ‘at-risk’ for a variety of reasons as Shining Star Mentors. The high school students were to go back to their respective schools and work to recruit volunteers.
In its first year, through the efforts of the original fifteen students, Hanner’s Heroes drew 100 high school students; year two grew to 320 high school students; and by the third year, we had over 800 high school students mentoring or coaching 900-1000 elementary students on a weekly basis. Targeting at risk students and students on free and reduced lunch, the student demographic of the high school students and their mentees demonstrated the power of the one-to-one frequent interaction. Over the course of first eight months in the program, data showed not only did student participation grow, but the fluency rate for words read per minute increased on average by 36 words. As this program expanded, our elementary administrators and teachers faced and welcomed the challenges of logistically coordinating hundreds of students in their schools on a weekly basis – while tracking performance data, and monitoring student progress. Survey data showed overwhelming positive reactions to the program from both elementary and high schools students. Student discipline improved, overall grades improved, and attendance improved for elementary and high school students involved in Hanner’s Heroes.
It is my belief that high school students, when trained properly and given on-going and frequent opportunities, can and will make an impact on the culture, achievement and individual student progress in elementary schools. If we empower high school students and give them ownership and voice in the decision making process, they will help build a system that they own – and we now have the data to show they can truly make a difference in the lives of younger students.
For further information, feel free to contact Tim Hanner at or 859-802-1303.
Hanner Educational Enterprises, LLC
“We are more than the sum of our knowledge; we are the product of our imagination.” Ferdi Serim